Sunny Tennessee

Greetings from Stone Fort, Tennessee. Where some of the climbs actually look like stone forts. We're climbing in t-shirts and eating all the waffle house we can get our hands on. More to come once we get home after New Years. 

Jude's First Christmas

Merry Christmas all!!

The Long Trail

Without fail, about 4 times a year I'll pack my camera in my bag without a memory card and/or battery. It had been too long since I last did that, so this weekend was a perfect opportunity. Luckily, phone cameras these days suffice in 90% of situations.

Some of the college guys got together for a nice weekend of winter camping on the Long Trail in Vermont. A 5.5 hour drive in the snow got us to the trailhead where a 2.5 hour hike through knee deep powder got us 3.3 miles to our shelter, right at sunset. 2 hours of struggling to find dry wood and blowing onto coals (until we almost passed out) got us a roaring fire. Chili, mac & cheese and hot dogs were on the dinner menu and they were all delicious (I abstained from roasting hot dogs, of course). 

 Overnight it warmed up and rained for several hours. The hike back out in the morning was through 4 inches of pure slush. I should probably add waterproof winter boots to my wish list.

Overall we had an awesome time and I hope to squeeze in at least one more camping trip before heading to Thailand.

Shenanigans

The annual Christmas party at the Duffmands was another great success. There was a Yankee Swap, plenty of good food and drinks, more flaming trebuchet action, dancing, climbing, massage trains, etc... I was very happy to be home for the festivities this year.

Shelburne Falls

Did some exploring around the Shelburne Falls area with Ian. It was nice seeing an area of Western Mass that I haven't seen before. 

Rotisserie Camp Cooking

Impromptu camping trip with Christian and Greg. We kept it super local and went to our go-to spot in some conservation land behind Christian's house. 

This was the first time bringing a battery powered rotisserie on a camping trip. It was rather successful and might need to be a standard item for future trips.

On an unrelated note, I booked a flight to Thailand for January 15th! Coincidentally, it's snowing outside right now and I'm wondering if January is too far away...

Saturn Life Tour

In case I have yet to give you a super exclusive in-person tour of my 4-wheeled home...

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Friendsgiving

Another successful Friendsgiving at the Duffmand household. It was difficult being in Texas last year during the festivities so I was very happy to be around for it this year. Good food and beer, axe throwing, flaming trebuchet, nerf war and so on.

Awwww Pawtuckaway

 Got a crew together to clamber around on some boulders. The weather was pretty decent for climbing and camping. We ended up camping at the State Park Campground, despite it being closed for the season. This meant that we had 100% of the sites to choose from and no neighbors to worry about. As far as I'm concerned, it's the only way to camp.

Rock Du Jour

You might find this surprising, but I've been climbing a lot lately.

Been spending a lot of time at Farley and Rumney, but had a great time climbing at Mormon Hollow with a whole slew of people. Here's Christian pretending to be a sport climber.

Koti, Ian, Lundy and I had a nice 2 day trip in Rumney. Climbed a lot of fun and hard stuff. My body is really feeling the burn now if you know what I mean. 

When Erin booked our trip to Canada, her #1 goal was to see a moose. 4 days and no moose were spotted. Then Ian, Koti and I happen to drive by one on our way to the crag in Rumney, NH. The really tall horse looked a bit lost.

A Treehouse, Eh?

Erin said "Hey let's go to Canada!". I said "Oui Oui Poutine!".

She found a killer tiny house north of Montreal. The house was beautiful and the setting was equally charming. We played board games, explored the nearby woods and rivers, had a cozy fire and made full use of the hot tub.

After 2 nights in the treehouse, we spend a night in Quebec City. First stop was Montmorency Falls. It's a spectacular waterfall just north of the city. Twas cold, but a fun little exploration for sure. In Quebec City we ate all of the poutine and explored random bars and stores. I'd say Erin's first time out of the country was a great success.

It's Stout Weather

Very excited to be brewing a chocolate rye stout. Put together the ingredient list myself based upon a similar recipe I found online. I hope it comes out good! We'll see in about 7 weeks. 

It snowed almost the entire day while I was brewing. That's totally unacceptable.

Everclear Fireballs

Been a bit quiet out here, eh? My apologies. Spent the last 5 days in Boston trying to play catch-up. Saw lots of great people, drank plenty of great beer, and got a little rowdy. 

Backyard skate ramps...

Jake's bar was getting rid of some old, water-damaged goods. This included 5 bottles of grain alcohol. Far more fun and healthy to make fire with it, rather than drinking it.

Epic Fireball photos taken by Brendan Coughlin.